CHAPTER VI. 



POLLEN, OR BEE-BKEAD. 



This substance is gathered by the bees from the flowers, 

 or blossoms, and is used /or the nourishment of their young. 

 Repeated experiments have proved that no brood can be 

 raised in a hive, unless the bees are supplied with it. It 

 contains none of the elements of wax, but is rich in what 

 chemists call nitrogenous substances, which are not con- 

 tained in honey, and which furnish ample nourishment for 

 the development of the growing bee. Dr. Hunter dissected 

 some immature bees, and found their stomachs to contain 

 farina, but not a particle of honey. 



We are indebted to Huber for the discovery of the use 

 made by the bees of pollen. That it did not serve as food 

 for the mature bees, was evident from the fact that large 

 supplies are often found in hives whose inmates have 

 starved to death. It was this fact which led the old ob- 

 servers to conclude that it was gathered for the purpose of 

 building comb. After Huber had demonstrated that wax is 

 secreted from an entirely different substance, he was soon 

 led to conjecture that the bee-bread must be used for the 

 nourishment of the embryo bees. By rigid experiments he 

 proved the truth of this supposition. Bees were confined 

 to their hive without any pollen, after being supplied with 

 honey, eggs and larvse. In a short time the young all per- 

 ished. A fresh supply of brood was given to them, with an 

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